‘Research lodge installs officers’

    

Frank Kautz photo

Massachusetts Lodge of Research’s officers for 2026-27 were installed yesterday at Tahattawan Lodge in Littleton.

Massachusetts Lodge of Research installed its officers yesterday at its meeting in Littleton. Steve Rogg now presides in the East, having been seated in the Solomonic Chair at his mother lodge, Tahattawan Lodge.

Frank Kautz photo

Steve Hogg is the new Master.

Author Dean Blackburn spoke from the lectern on an esoteric topic. One petitioner was elected to membership.

Sean LeBlanc photo

Author Dean Blackburn spoke at the meeting. 

The lodge’s next meeting will open Saturday, November 21 via Zoom (possibly at 10 a.m., like previous meetings).

Sean LeBlanc photo

The East of Tahattawan Lodge...

Sean LeBlanc photo

…and the West.

  

I brazenly stole all these photos from social media. See more on Flickr.

     

‘Thomas Harper 9612 to meet’

    

Reaching its thirtieth anniversary this year is Thomas Harper Lodge 9612 in the United Grand Lodge of England. It is a research lodge, but with this difference: Hatched from the Jewels of the Craft group, it focuses on the study of Masonic material culture, and is named for the jeweler of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries whose crafts still are prized by Masons on both sides of the Atlantic.

Also, it’s a traveling lodge; the next meeting will take place in Freemasons’ Hall, London four weeks from today, tyling at 2 p.m.

JOTC

Thomas Harper may be best known for his R.A. jewels.

As W. Bro. D.K. Rhodes, the first Worshipful Master, puts it:

Thomas Harper Lodge (9612 EC)

During the Autumn of 1994 it was suggested that a lodge of research should be formed from Jewels of the Craft, but also to incorporate members of the Masonic Philatelic Society and the Mark Token Collectors Club should they wish to join, or indeed become Founders. It appeared from the start, that the name of Thomas Harper should be used for the new lodge. What better way of commemorating the life and work of that great Mason, than by naming a lodge in his honor—a lodge that would study jewels?

Several committee meetings were held and it was resolved that the lodge should be based at Birmingham, but be peripatetic, meeting twice in other places throughout the English Constitution. It also was agreed that the installation be at Stirling Road, Edgbaston; and the other two meetings be held at the discretion of the master, one north of Birmingham, the other south.

It was felt that the term “collector’s lodge” should be avoided, as the lodge was to be a proper lodge of research, mainly of jewels, but also of other Masonic memorabilia, including regalia, stamps, coins, books, even items such as Masonic postcards.

The then Provincial Grand Master of Warwickshire gave his blessing, and the lodge was consecrated June 22, 1996 at Edgbaston. The lodge immediately donated £1,000 to the Province’s 2001 MTGB Festival, much to the delight of the PrGM, who then overlooked the Lodge appointing an orator!

Naturally, the Founders decided that they simply must have a jewel which is a replica of a jewel made by Thomas Harper, incorporating a square, level, and a plumb, with a stone in each. Each Founder’s Jewel is numbered, together with a tiny representation of the owner’s office hanging from the top bar; members’ jewels are similar, but without the word “Founder.” Each jewel is made of hallmarked silver and has the lodge’s own mark “TH” proudly incorporated as the sponsor—thus will those famous initials live on, we hope, forever.

Indeed, right from the start, the lodge appointed two officers not normally found in other lodges, nor even in the Book of Constitutions: a lodge historian, an honorary office rather than an appointment; and the second is the lodge orator. There were one or two other lodges which had such an officer (prior to its reintroduction by Grand Lodge in 2007) and his jewel is a snake biting its tail. The orator’s role was to give a paper in the lodge, and also to other lodges, when it was hoped that they would make a charitable donation in the name of Thomas Harper Lodge.

The first master selected by the committee, and much to his surprise, was W. Bro. D.K. Rhodes PAGDC—a jeweller and silversmith—and again, what better choice than a jeweller?

The lodge summons was taken from an eighteenth century summons—each having the lodge badge embossed individually, and individually signed by the secretary. On the front is a copy of the only known portrait of Thomas Harper, a miniature by Whiston and Brine of Southsea, now in the possession of Quatuor Coronati Lodge.

The offices are not progressive except that the junior warden progresses to the chair, and the IPM is appointed tyler, irrespective of his rank. The master must ensure that the JW whom he selects is a PM, and has given service to the lodge, either in one of the “static” offices, or having been the orator. And the master must deliver an original paper of his choice during his year in office.

A further difference is that each master has to choose a project for his year, all the proceeds being given to charity. The first project was a firing glass, which is used at every festive board, unless ladies are present. All the conditions listed above were to ensure that the lodge would retain its original unique character of research and be not just another lodge with an easy route to the chair.

Who was Thomas Harper?

  

Click here to read a short biography, and note the additional reading listed at the bottom.

Wishing the brethren an enjoyable and educational time together next month.

     

‘Wildblood Lodge to showcase America250 talks’

    

Click to enlarge.

A third presentation has been added to the agenda of Vermont’s research lodge for its meeting next Saturday. The flier above has all the info and shows Richard Hoffman will present “Freemasonry and the American Imagination” with the two speakers previously booked.

The lodge is making an effort to mark America250, and I only assume this and “Conflict of Conscientious” (I wonder if that’s a typo) will address that.

(I miss Vermont. That was my vacation spot decades ago when I’d spend a week every January at Killington for death-defying skiing and drinking.)

Definitely want to visit this lodge one day. It meets three times per year: January, April (for the annual), and, obviously, August. Friday the fourteenth will be the twenty-eighth anniversary of the lodge receiving dispensation from Grand Master Edward J. Wildblood, Jr. to study “the history, philosophy, and purposes of Freemasonry.”

Very curious to see what the Green Mountain State looks like today. Anyone know if they still do the Hill Degree?

     

‘At last: The Book M’

    

The Masonic Book Club has done it again—or at least it will later this year.

The 2026 volume, announced by the MBC and Arturo de Hoyos, will be William Smith’s The Book M, or Masonry Triumphant from 1736. I’ve wanted my own printed copy of this an awfully long time. I first encountered a mention of this title in Chetwode Crawley’s Caementaria Hibernica, itself reprinted by the MBC long ago, where it was described as an important source of Masonic theory—and even as “hortatory.” And then it came up again elsewhere. Then again over time, while remaining elusive on the web. I have not been able to include this on my list of the Masonic essential books without reading it, but always suspected it merits inclusion.

In a paper on the subject of Smith and this book, the late John Belton of QC2076 writes:

In 1736 there was another William Smith production: Book M: Or Masonry Triumphant. Suddenly the moral and ethical values of Freemasonry appear in an extended readable and spoken form. One might possibly think of this as the contribution from the northeast of England to Freemasonry! And from that part of England that worked the Harodim degrees. That is the opinion of Professor Jan Snoek and increasingly I think he is correct. The oratorical tradition in Masonry came from the northeast of England.

Crawley, Lionel Vibert, and others have written of the similarities of The Book M to Smith’s Pocket Companion from 1735. Belton attributes to that book what your lodge might call the Entered Apprentice Charge, saying:

John Belton

“But finally I would like to tell you about my discovery in the 1735 Pocket Companion of William Smith. It is finding the earliest piece of ritual prose in English Masonic ritual yet discovered. Masonry Dissected was pure catechism. What William Smith added to that catechism was the innovation of a “Charge to Newly Admitted Brethren.” And which uses words and phrases which still resound in English lodges to this day. When I first read it (aloud in my mind) it was the same piece of oratorical prose that remember from my initiation forty years ago. But I was beguiled by the flow of words, because there had been some changes. I showed it to few other brothers and got the same response that I had.

So I’m hooked just for the opportunity to read the early text of that charge. With a $40 price tag, we’ll be paying almost a buck a page for this reproduction of The Book M, but of course an MBC printing will include explanatory text. Take my money, please!

From the publicity:

In the decades following the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1717 and the publication of James Anderson’s The Constitutions of the Free-Masons (1723), Freemasonry was undergoing both consolidation and public exposure. William Smith’s The Book M or, Masonry Triumphant (1736), participated in this transition by offering a blend of history, ritual elements, and songs which reflected the increasing literate and social mobility of the Craft’s membership.

The Book M is essentially a “Pocket Companion” augmented with original commentary on Northern English Masonry, “Memorables,” and ceremonial observations. This dual format, part historical narrative plus musical/occasional material, informed and entertained brethren as well as promoting a positive self-image of the fraternity. The author was likely the same William Smith who was initiated at Swalwell Lodge (Lodge of Industry 48) in 1733.

Internal evidence suggests that The Book M represents the traditions of the “Harodim,” an early form of Masonry distinct from the “Moderns” (post-1717) and “Ancients” (post-1752). Some scholars suggest that the Harodim encompassed ritual elements later found in other high degrees, such as the Rose Croix, the Passing of the Bridge, and the Mark, Ark, and Link ceremonies. However, historical records indicate that the Harodim was primarily a lecture-based assembly. It preserved some of the older traditions of Masonry, including Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, Enoch’s Columns, and the construction of Solomon’s Temple as part of the Fraternity’s mythology.

Although published in a relatively large edition, surviving copies are quite rare, with fewer than ten known to exist. This attractive Masonic Book Club edition, which was re-typeset for clarity, preserves the pagination and some of the engravings of the original. Some of the engravings have been reproduced or reimagined. A new introduction by Arturo de Hoyos adds a historical context and frames the book within the traditional works of the Craft.

Getting back to Chetwode Crawley and Caementaria Hibernica, he humorously writes: “The enigmatical title of The Book M, was doubtless designed to excite curiosity. It stands among the earliest instances of that affection for the clair-obscur, which has now and again led Masonic writers into stringing together long rows of initials. It has been suggested that M stands for Mystic, or for Mirific, or for Microcosmic, or for Megalocosmic, or for a host of words, each a little longer than its superseded predecessor in the list. The irreverent reader will miss the wonder-working Mesopotamian.”

Advance orders will be accepted through September 8. If enough orders are received, the books will be printed and shipped to us in the fall. (Conversely, if that threshold is not reached, we’ll get our money back, so click here and think positive.)

     

‘Washington Bible to be displayed in Hudson Valley’

    

Click here to RSVP.

The public is invited to view and learn about the George Washington Inaugural Bible next Saturday in the Hudson Valley as part of New York Freemasonry’s America250 celebration. From the publicity:

Philipstown Lodge 236 to host St. John’s Lodge 1 for the display of the George Washington Inaugural Bible.

Saturday, August 15

noon to five

18 Secor Street

Cold Spring, New York

Free admission, RSVP here

The Holy Bible on which George Washington placed his hands to take his first presidential oath of office in 1789 will be displayed by a delegation from St. John’s Lodge 1 of New York City, hosted by Philipstown Lodge 236. Read more about that inauguration here.

Magpie file photo

GEORGE WASHINGTON DRANK HERE—Gen. Washington visited this site in Cold Spring during the Revolution, drank the water, and named this tributary of the Hudson River ‘Cold Spring,’ which later became the name of the village itself.

Washington has a connection to Cold Spring, having named the body of water that gave the village its name.

Magpie file photo

I shot this in 2010. Doubtful this
menagerie of signs still looks like this.

For about twenty-five years, one of my favorite things in life was taking in the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel, and visiting Cold Spring—and sometimes West Point—to round out the day. Always figured I could live up there, but it isn’t affordable. Beautiful part of the state though, replete with lodges in the area.

     

‘Calling photographers, videographers, etc.’

    

Macoy Masonic Supply Co. has a unique proposition for you.

The venerable retailer of the stuff we need asks its clients to send in photos and video clips (of 10-20 seconds) for use in the company’s marketing. From the publicity:

Be Featured in Macoy

Videos & More!

 

If you have photos or short video clips of your lodge, chapter, event, or Macoy regalia in use, send them our way.

We’re looking for authentic moments to use in our educational videos, website, emails, and social media. Real members and real experiences help us create content that truly reflects the Craft.

What’s in it for us? Dunno. They didn’t say. But, from what I see on social media, a lot of you guys like producing your own content—much of it looks the same, frankly—so this could be another way to share your talents.

Brotherly wise counsel: If you are going to submit photos of people, be sure to get their written permission first, even if it’s just an email in reply to your request. Not everyone wants to be famous.

Click here.

Have fun.

     

‘FT approaches UGLE’s membership concerns’

    

Charlie Bibby/Financial Times

W. Bro. Nando Caicedo strikes a pose, as before in the Metro story last week, at Freemasons’ Hall. He appears today in the Financial Times.

Not to convert The Magpie Mason into an echo of the UGLE’s earned media, but the Financial Times today, like Metro last Tuesday, published a UK Society feature article about the English Craft’s thoughts on membership.

I’m from a lodge named Publicity, so I get excited over these things.

Reporter Josh Gabert-Doyon, covers the familiar territory of Freemasonry consisting of older men with gray hair, wearing mysterious regalia, shouldering controversies, supporting charities, and desiring to be succeeded in the fraternity (or, as our writer phrases it, “the so-called ‘fraternity’”) by younger men.

And a sloppy error slipped in: women are admitted to UGLE!

Grand Secretary Adrian Marsh is quoted. I was surprised to see Bro. Mitchell Bryan and Bro. Nando Caicedo featured in photos, as they were last week in Metro. Maybe they are part of the Grand Lodge’s communications team.

Anyway, click here to read “Freemasons seek a new generation of members.”

     

‘Free museum tours for Heritage Days’

    

Sortir à Paris

If you happen to find yourself in Paris next month, maybe you’ll be there during Heritage Days, when the Grand Orient will open the Museum of Freemasonry for free tours.

Heritage Days, September 19-20, is celebrated by historic sites, museums, and other institutions providing free access to their sites. Sortir à Paris, the online tourism guide, says:

It’s time to dive into the heart of an organization that stirs passions, rich in a culture dating back more than 300 years: Freemasonry.

For the Heritage Days 2026, the Museum of Freemasonry opens its doors to the curious, on Saturday, September 19 and Sunday, September 20. During these two days, Parisians will be able to visit the permanent exhibition on the history of Freemasonry free of charge, learn about the extent to which Freemasonry has influenced the evolution of society, and even discover the iconographic imprints that identify it.

Saturday, September 19

10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, September 20

10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Freemasonry Museum

16 rue Cadet

75009 Paris 9

Of itself, the museum says:

Created in 1889, the “musée de la franc-maçonnerie” now has a public exhibition tracing the history of lodges in France and their contribution to the country’s history over the past three centuries. This contribution extends to multiple fields: philosophy and politics, of course—from support for the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century to the Republican structures in the 1880s—as well as religion, literature, and the arts. The exhibition also examines the origins and range of symbols and rites, and explains the Freemason initiation process.

Paralleling the educational function, the museum aims at showcasing iconic works: a magnificent full length portrait of the Comte de Clermont, Grand Master from 1743 to 1771; aprons that belonged to Voltaire and Jérôme Bonaparte, king of the short-lived realm of Westphalia; and the sword of Venerable Lafayette.

Visitors can also admire the most beautiful collection of eighteenth century French Masonic earthenware and magnificent regalia (aprons, sashes, and collars), painted or embroidered with the emblems and symbols of the various degrees of the order. Scholars can peruse a few remarkable documents, such as the first edition of Anderson’s Constitutions (1723) and various extremely rare manuscripts.

The museum’s goal is to foster a better understanding of all aspects of Masonic life. The lodges are polymorphous in nature; the work behind closed doors includes discussions on new ideas as well as elements of secular traditions.

     

‘Colonial EA° at New Haven’

    

Hiram Lodge 1

Hiram Lodge 1 in New Haven plans a Colonial EA° four weeks from today.

Dinner will be served at the Annex YMA Club, and the degree will be conferred at Fort Nathan Hale. (Hale was a Connecticut native.) Bus transportation is arranged to convey us the one-mile distance.

I’ve got my ticket, and you should go too.

Click here for tickets.

I wish I had more information for you. For example, I don’t know what exactly the Colonial EA° entails ritual-wise. I hope Hiram 1 is basing the degree on the available source material, like the ritual exposures of the eighteenth century, unless Connecticut has something in its archives that we haven’t seen before. We’ll find out soon.

Saturday the 29th would have been the John Skene Conference in Jersey, but with that cancelled, maybe you have the date free. Click here and I’ll see you there.

     

‘The Square: Recruitment is Dead’

    

I close July by directing you to this month’s The Square magazine, brought to my attention by longtime reader Edward, who also saw Wednesday’s Magpie (see post below) about the story in Metro. “Recruitment is Dead,” by Sam Masteron, relates the elements of persuasion articulated by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., professor emeritus of psychology and marketing, and author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

There are six precepts in the theory: Reciprocity, Scarcity, Authority, Consistency, Liking, and Consensus.

“These principles are not a marketing gimmick,” Masteron writes, “they are the operating system of human influence. Let us be unequivocally clear: this is not about manipulation. These are not tools to trick men into joining; they are a lens to understand human nature so we can better connect with the good men who are already searching for Light. Our goal remains what it has always been: To Make Good Men Better. That sacred process must begin with absolute integrity.”

Read all about it here.

I always appreciate hearing new thinking about old Masonic concerns, but I’m still neutral on what I’ve read here. Cialdini’s source material is a business text, and I will say I’m wary of Masons trying to mix business ideas into the Craft. I’ve never seen that work. (I’m reminded of an ineffectual leader of the Scottish Rite NMJ from years ago who never was a businessman, but kept reading business self-help books for ideas to shape his accidental tenure as Grand Poobah. Every other month brought a new weird non-sequitur.) But, again, read for yourself.

     

‘Metro writes up the UGLE’

    

Nick Edwards for Metro

Nando Caicedo strikes a pose inside the Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall, London. A Mason for six years, he appears here to sport a pastiche of regalia: a Worshipful Master apron, Royal Arch Companion jewel, and Tercentenary jewel, complemented by the ‘One Journey’ necktie.

Another win for the communications team at the United Grand Lodge of England upon landing some favorable coverage yesterday in Britain’s largest print newspaper. Metro, a tabloid distributed for free to commuters on weekday mornings, published a story describing Freemasonry’s efforts to attract younger men to its lodges, so it’s a familiar angle without surprises.

Nick Edwards/Metro

In “Secret rituals and symbols on lattes: Metro goes inside the Freemasons Grand Lodge,” News Reporter Luke Alsford, with photographer Nick Edwards, visited Freemasons’ Hall, the Grand Lodge’s headquarters, and interviewed several Masons, including Grand Secretary Adrian March. 

Metro also is online. Click here. Its print edition boasts a daily circulation of more than 950,000. It can be found at bus stops, rail stations, Tube, Metro, etc.

The story touches on the mix of generations found in Masonic lodges, charitable works, the beauty of the building, and Masonry’s desire to alleviate the loneliness pandemic afflicting younger men today.

Nick Edwards/Metro

Mitchell Bryan, age 36, has been a Mason fourteen years.

“From the gowns to the bar and the briefcases, there does appear to be plenty to get involved in as a Freemason,” Alsford writes in conclusion. “What exactly it all entails is still only for the initiated to find out.”

The ensuing comments on the webpage are what we’d expect.

     

‘Happy to receive Lodges of Sorrow after all’

    

I wasn’t looking forward to reading this latest bonus book from the Scottish Rite Research Society. There’s more than adequate morbidity in the world, so the title Lodges of Sorrow conveyed all I needed to form an irrational aversion, but never judge a book by its title. Lodges of Sorrow. Craft, Rose Croix, Kadosh contains much beautiful language our ancestors composed to provide solace and purpose for the most trying of times, and I was extra pleased to see it reached deeper into the past, before Scottish Rite’s birth, to eighteenth century London and America.

In their Introduction, Arturo de Hoyos and Chris Ruli begin at the beginning: our first clue of the existence of a Third Degree. Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected ritual exposure from 1730 tells of KS ordering HAB be “decently buried.”

“The theme of Hiram’s burial was an important feature of the Scots Master degree, which was the earliest known ‘high degree’ after Master Mason,” they add. “Conferred in London as early as 1733, the Scots Master degree soon spread to continental Europe.”

In actual funerals, they recall the burial of a Bro. Ellis, “a member of the ‘lodge at Antwerp Tavern,’” who was said to have been interred in the presence of his lodge brothers which itself was said to have been a first since 1717. They then note how decades later William Preston published the basis of our funerary rites in his book Illustrations of Masonry in 1772.

Returning to historic events, the Masonic funerals, with processions, of both Joseph Warren in 1776 (like HAB, Warren was disinterred and buried again properly) and George Washington in 1799 are recounted.

Unsurprisingly, Albert Pike authored a Funeral Ceremony and Lodge of Sorrows ritual for Scottish Rite Masons. Intended to be worked by Chapters of Rose Croix, but to honor anyone of the A&ASR, these later were put into practice for murdered President James A. Garfield, 14°.

In 1887, Pike additionally wrote ceremonies specifically for degrees 30 to 33, and, four years later, these would be employed for their author in a private midnight ceremony inside the Scottish Rite Cathedral in the District of Columbia. Days later, his coffin was transferred to a Congregational church, where a second midnight Kadosh service was performed, this time in the presence of Supreme Council, Grand Lodge, and the Masonic Veteran Association (where Pike had been president).

This Introduction merits twenty pages in a Heredom, but here it primes the reader for the following 130+ pages of funeral rituals and their contexts. First come five optional versions of Lodge of Sorrow and Ceremony at Final Resting Place, and here is where we find much of that gorgeous rhetoric that seemed to have been so common in the nineteenth century. One excerpt I especially like:

The lips of the departed speak to us sermons that cannot be translated into words. Most eloquently, they tell us how vain, and empty are all the ambitions, the disputes, the rivalries, and the struggles for rank and reputation in human life. Our Brother, whose soul has now departed, is indifferent to praise or censure, to undeserved eulogy or equally undeserved blame, to all the prizes of human greatness, to all the beatitudes of human love. Often it is said, yet it is always a solemn and impressive thought, that in the grave all men are equal, the prince and beggar, the warlike and the peaceful, the fortunate and the miserable.

And, later, from that Knight Kadosh piece:

It is midnight, and a new day begins for us. Our Brother has finished his earthly probation. Death is the inexorable creditor whose indulgence nothing in the world can purchase. Every moment that sees a newborn child laugh at the light, sees also a man die, and hears the cry of a breaking heart, and the lamentations of those who sit, lonely and in the desolation of affliction, no longer seeing the faces dearly loved.

Round the little island of our being on which we follow our various pursuits of toil and craft, of usefulness or mischief, throbs the illimitable ocean of Eternity upon which, round the isle, a broad circle of impenetrable darkness brooding lies. But beyond that zone the outer ocean sparkles, and its white-crested waves dance in the light; and somewhere in the distance the Islands of the Blessed are dreaming, girdled by the peaceful waters. here, in our present home, we live our little life, waiting to be called to other duties elsewhere; and one by one our loved ones and our cherished friends glide away from us unseen, and are swallowed up in the darkness which is the shadow of the broad wings of Death.

Each of us belongs to some little colony of hearts that hath a life of its own, its private and inner life, apart from that of the mass of Humanity which eddies round it in endless agitations, having with it no sympathies nor any memories of association. When one of its members dies, it is as if a limb were severed from the body. The wound heals, but the limb is missed as long as the body lives. Thus is the body of our Order here mutilated today, and therefore we mourn.

I was pleased also to see an illustration from Thomas Johnson’s A Brief History of Freemasonry from 1782.

I can’t say Lodges of Sorrow is mandatory reading for Freemasons. It is a window—a tall and wide and colorfully stained glass aperture—overlooking part of our past. If you’re going to read it, do so while keeping in mind the Masonic obsequies you have witnessed, and consider the possibility that today’s ceremonies lack a weighty sincerity. The standard lodge service has become just another piece of ritual work to memorize, which too often—at least in my experience—results in a perfunctory and fast recitation.

I wonder if there is a grand lodge in the country that even allows a Scottish Rite service, whether at midnight or high twelve.

     

‘Anson Jones Lecture announced’

    

The Anson Jones Lecture is one of the most prestigious lectures in the Masonic world. Second only to England’s Prestonian Lectures (which commenced in 1820), the Anson Jones Lecture brings with it a membership in the Texas Lodge of Research. But it brings much more. Being asked to deliver the lecture tells the recipient that he has been recognized as a Masonic scholar. It tells him that someone has noticed what he has written, and noticed it favorably. It is a sign of coming of age was a writer in Freemasonry; it is extremely flattering. Small wonder that the typical reaction of a lecturer upon being invited to deliver the Lecture is, “Who, me?”

   

Jim Tresner

Full Member & Past Anson Jones Lecturer

Well, it’s about time, is all I can say.

Shawn Eyer will be this year’s Anson Jones Lecturer!

Texas Lodge of Research marks the golden anniversary of this fine tradition by hosting Eyer at the lectern, presenting “Living Stones, Spiritual House: A Diachronic Study of Lithanthropomorphic Symbolism from Biblical and Patristic Sources to Eighteenth-Century Masonic Initiatory Praxis.” (I’m convinced there’s a joke in there.) Ticketing info to come soon.

Who is Anson Jones?

Dr. Anson Jones was one of those seminal figures in Texas history, having served as the Republic’s final president, from 1844 to ’46, before becoming the twenty-eighth of these United States.

J.C. Kidd’s History of Holland Lodge No. 1, published in 1920, says:

Anson Jones, Physician, Gentleman, Statesman, Diplomat, Legislator, Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas, last President of the Republic of Texas, First Master of the First Lodge of A.F.&A.М., organized in Texas, Mexico, First Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, A.F.&A.M., of the Republic of Texas, was born in Seconk, township of Great Barrington, County of Berkshire, Massachusetts, on January 20, 1798. His early life was one of struggle, both for living and education. After years of work, he succeeded in securing his license to practice in 1820. He first located in Bainbridge, Massachusetts, but being unsuccessful, went to Philadelphia, remaining there only a few months, then sailing for South America, where the next two years were passed. Returning to Philadelphia, he attended a full course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College, and in 1827 received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the period he was in Philadelphia he united with the Odd Fellows, and became the Grand Master of the Order in Pennsylvania. He also became a Mason while in Philadelphia. In 1832 he moved to New Orleans and from there to Texas, reaching, finally Brazoria, November 1, 1833. His, almost, first financial success came after he settled at Brazoria. From that date his life and that of the Republic and State of Texas were closely interwoven. He died at Houston, about three o’clock a.m., January 9, 1858, at the Old Capitol. He was buried with Masonic honors on January 12, 1858, by the lodge that he had organized at Brazoria in 1835, and constituted at Houston, in 1837.

That lodge was Holland 36, Under Dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana (signed by MW John Henry Holland), and met secretly under what became known as the Masonic Oak. It began labors as Holland Lodge 1 in 1838.

(I have a tenuous connection to Holland 1 because the brother who brought me into Masonry in 1997 was himself brought into the Craft the previous year by an uncle who was at labor in Holland Lodge.)

Congratulations, Shawn! I hope your presentation makes it into the pages of The Philalethes.

     

‘Lodge of Research transactions due in September’

    

The Lodge of Research 2429 announced its next book of transactions is due in September.

Located in Leicester, England, the lodge was set to labor in 1892. Its objects, stated then:

‣ To provide a center and bond of union for Masonic students and brethren of literary tastes.

‣ To provide and encourage an exemplary rendering of the Masonic ritual and ceremonies.

‣ To attract and interest brethren by means of papers upon the history, antiquities, and symbols of the Craft, in order to imbue them with a love for Masonic research.

‣ And generally to cultivate Masonic good fellowship, and promote the grand principles upon which our Order is founded.

No word yet on the new book’s contents, but the publicity says:

Making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge for more than 130 years, the Lodge of Research No. 2429 has been publishing original research into Freemasonry’s history, traditions, and personalities. Our next volume of Transactions, due for publication in September, includes papers of both national and international interest, featuring remarkable stories of forgotten Freemasons, new historical discoveries, and fresh perspectives on well-known aspects of the Craft.

If you’d like to receive the latest volume and keep up to date with our work, join our Correspondence Circle today.

“I’m delighted that this is the first volume for which I have had the privilege of serving as Editor,” says Andrew Green (who also is QCCC’s Local Secretary for Leicestershire) on social media. “It contains a fascinating collection of original research papers, including several with strong connections to London, alongside articles of national and international Masonic interest.”

Annual dues for us overseas cost ￡30—that’s US$40.

 

The lodge’s upcoming meetings are scheduled for November 23, for the Installation of Officers and the Worshipful Master’s inaugural paper. January 25, for papers and other presentations. March 22, to welcome the 2027 Prestonian Lecturer, RW Roger Pemberton.

Prospective visitors should contact the secretary in advance here.

     

‘Tisha B’Av brings evidence of KST era ruins’

    

When the sun sets in several minutes, the Jewish observance named Tisha B’Av will begin. It is known as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar because it marks calamities through history that tradition says had befallen the Jewish people on the ninth day of the month of Av. These include:

‣ the start of forty years of wandering the desert;

‣ the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians;

‣ the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans;

‣ the defeat at the Battle of Betar;

‣ England’s expulsion of Jews;

‣ Spain’s expulsion;

‣ and more, including the start of World War I, which led directly to the Second World War and the Holocaust.

The observance of Tisha B’Av involves, in part, fasting and reading the Book of Lamentations. It concludes with a joyful note, however, with the concluding prayer: “Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old,” of Lamentations 5:21.

Two days ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the archeological discovery in the City of David of lumber it believes dates to the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. Watch the video above.

The IAA says:

Burnt Wooden Beams

from the Destruction of Jerusalem

during the First Temple Period

Discovered in the City of David

The charred beams were uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in Jerusalem within a building that collapsed by the intense fire at the time of the First Temple’s destruction. What likely preserved the beams for approximately 2,600 years was plaster that melted from the building’s walls, sealing the burnt wood beneath it.

Reut Vilf photo

A remarkable discovery was made recently at a dig in the Givati Parking Lot, as part of excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in the City of David, within the Jerusalem Walls National Park: massive wooden beams that were burned during the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.

According to Excavation Director Efrat Bocher, “The beams appear to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building from the First Temple period. During the destruction, they collapsed onto the floor. We believe that the plaster cladding of the building’s walls, melted by the fire, covered the charred wooden beams, and ultimately enabled their exceptional preservation.”

Reut Vilf photo

“It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings,” says Dr. Johanna Regev of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Weizmann Institute of Science, who is studying the find. “Here, in the City of David, we found beams with many rings, offering significant research potential—with more growth rings enabling higher dating resolution. Until recently, we could date finds from this time within a range of hundreds of years. Now, as we separate and collect the rings one by one in the field, we can attain much greater precision, potentially narrowing the dating range down to as little as ten years.”

The excavation directors note that Jerusalem’s returning residents, as they began to rebuild the city, probably made a deliberate decision to preserve the memory of the destruction by leaving behind remains that tell the story of the catastrophe. “The concept of a landscape of memory is familiar from many cultures around the world,” explains Dr. Yiftah Shalev, who directs the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority alongside Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University.

According to Dr. Shalev, “Preserving memory is a human need, seeking to preserve what once existed. Here we see it in its clearest form: a deliberate choice to leave ruins in place as a testament to the destruction and build the new layer over them.”

“We are just before Tisha B’Av,” adds Bocher. “This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened. It’s deeply moving.”

Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu commented on the new discovery: “Jerusalem’s soil continues to provide tangible evidence of the city’s ancient past. The wooden beams burned in the destruction of the First Temple stand as a powerful reminder of the Jewish people’s presence in Jerusalem some 2,600 years ago. On the eve of Tisha B’Av, this discovery underscores that our connection to Jerusalem is rooted not only in faith, but also in history, archaeology, and collective memory. It is our responsibility to continue uncovering, preserving, and passing this heritage on to future generations.”